MICRO MANAGEMENT

Research suggests that the foundation of healthy hormone levels is the gut. So, how can we help our gut create a better environment for optimum balance? Nutritionist, Jeanette Hyde, has some answers

Dossier

Q Is it true that the gut holds the key to hormonal balance? If so, how do they work together?

It’s early days, but many scientists are now calling the bacteria in our gut the ‘control centre’ of our health. We all house a ‘microbiome’; bacteria that live in and on us, the majority of which are in our colon – about a kilogram and a half in weight. In the past, the medical profession acknowledged them, but it was thought they had no function.

From 2008 over five years, there was a major piece of research in the United States called the Human Microbiome Project. Scientists discovered that the microbiome was far more plentiful and active than was previously thought. Since then, other research has been joining the dots. We’ve revealed that the microbiome is very powerful indeed and sends signals to, as well as connects with, several systems of the body.